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KENTUCKY. 






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PHILADELPHIA: 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 

1890. 



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Cop3'riorht, 1890, by J. B. Lippincott Company. 



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KENTUCKY. 



• Kentucky, a state of the American Union, in the 
great central or Mississippi Valley, lies between 36° 
30' and 39° 6' N. lat. and between 82° 3' and 89° 30' 
W. long. Its greatest length from east to west is about 
400 miles, its breadth from north to south about 175 
miles; its area is 40,400 sq. m. The eastern and 
south-eastern parts of the state are mountainous, 
broken by the Cumberland Mountains (2000-3000 
feet) and their offshoots. Westward from this region 
is a plateau sloping gradually toward the Ohio and 
the Mississippi rivers, which bound the state on the 
porth and west. Large cypress-swamps still exist 
in some parts, especially in the south-west. Ken- 
tucky has a river boundary of more than 800 miles 
in length, including a stretch of nearly 650 miles 
along the Ohio, 50 miles on the Mississippi, and 120 
on the Big Sandy. The Cumberland, Tennessee, 
Licking, and Kentucky rivers rise among the moun- 
tains in the east, and cross the state to the Ohio, 
whose other large tributaries, the Green and the 
Tradewater, rise in the west. The considerable ex- 
tent of water thus available for navigation has lately 



4 KENTUCKY. 

been increased by a system of river improvements. 
Besides these natural highways of commerce Ken- 
tucky has 2800 miles of railroad. Southward from 
the Ohio River extends a semicircular tract of land 
of Silurian formation ; here the soil is produced by 
the disintegration of the fossiliferous blue limestone, 
and its fertility is unrivalled. This section is the 
famous Blue Grass (q.v.) country, in which the most 
exhausting crops, such as tobacco and hemp, may 
be raised continuously for a series of years without 
materially impairing the productive value of the so+i, 
the constant crumbling of the fossiliferous shales re- 
storing those constituents which have been withdrawn 
by the rich growth of vegetation. Surrounding the 
blue-grass country is a somewhat narrow belt of De- 
vonian shale; its soil is also very fertile, and the 
lower strata contain petroleum. In the southern 
and south-eastern parts of the state there are other 
tracts of Devonian deposits, some of which yield 
heavy lubricating oils. The eastern, the western, and 
the southern portions of Kentucky belong mainly to 
the Carboniferous age, and the structure consists of 
sub-carboniferous limestone, or of true carboniferous 
deposits, with extensive coalfields. The coal-measures 
are the result of several alternate exposures and sub- 
mersions, and average at least ten good beds of coal. 
Through the central part of the state is a strip of 
land which appears to have remained permanently 
raised above the sea during the Carboniferous period, 
and thus forms a divide between the eastern and the 
western coal-areas. The eastern coalfield is a pro- 
longation of the Appalachian deposits, and is about 



KENTUCKY. c 

10,000 sq. m. in extent. The western belongs to the 
Illinois tract, and measures about 4000 sq. m. The 
coal is bituminous, and some excellent cannel occurs. 
Next in importance to coal are the iron ores, which 
are of excellent quality, and are found throughout a 
district of 20,000 sq. m. in extent. Neither the coal 
nor the iron deposits are worked as thoroughly as 
their quality and their abundance would seem to 
justify, but the output is increasing. Galena is found 
in some sections ; valuable building-stones occur 
almost everywhere ; and salt is obtained by boring 
in the coal and the oil regions. 

Through the limestone formations the streams 
have cut deep gorges, and within a region of about 
6000 sq. m. in the sub-carboniferous structure, much 
of the drainage is subterranean. The surface topog- 
raphy is peculiar, as there are many round or oval- 
shaped * sinks' through which the water reaches the 
underground streams. The long-continued erosive 
action of the water has undermined a large part of 
this region, and produced the numerous and often 
extensive caverns which form one of the remarkable 
physical features of this state. Of these the best 
known, though possibly not the largest, is the Mam- 
moth Cave (q.v.). 

Kentucky is densely wooded, except in those 
places that are under cultivation ; at present about 
two-thirds of the state is covered with virgin forests. 
Among the prevailing species of trees are the blue 
ash, the black walnut, various kinds of oak, the pine, 
the maple, the tulip-tree, and the sweet gum. Not- 
withstanding this large proportion of forest land, 



6 KENTUCKY. 

Kentucky has always been one of the leading agri- 
cultural states, and its products are noted for their 
variety. It is the principal tobacco-producing state 
in the union. The state has always been a centre 
for rearing domestic animals, and for breeding the 
finest grades of stock. A very large percentage of 
the successful racehorses of the United States have 
been bred in Kentucky. The peculiar advantages 
for stock-raising are due in part to the excellent 
quality of the grass, and in part to the mild salu- 
brious climate, which permits the cattle to remain 
unhoused in the pastures during the greater part of 
the winter. Kentucky's principal manufacture is 
whisky, which is made in large quantities in the 
central section. The smelting and working of iron 
are the only other manufacturing industries of any 
considerable importance. 

Kentucky is divided into 117 counties, and con- 
tains 19 cities and over 300 towns and villages. The 
most important cities are Louisville, Covington, New- 
port, Lexington, and Frankfort, the capital. The 
governor and the 38 state senators serve for four 
years, the 100 representatives for two. Besides two 
senators, Kentucky sends eleven representatives to 
congress. The state is practically out of debt, and 
has a permanent school fund of ^1,799,447. The 
enrolment of pupils in the common schools exceeds 
300,000. There are several important colleges and 
schools of higher education, some of them affiliated 
with the Kentucky University at Lexington. Pop. 
of the state (i860) 1,155,684; (1880) 1,648,690. 

History. — Numerous remains indicate that the 



KENTUCKY. y 

mound-builders lived here in considerable numbers ; 
but at the time of its first occupation by the whites 
this region seems to have been a hunting-ground 
visited by both the northern and the southern tribes 
of Indians, and not permanently occupied by settle- 
ments. The name Kentucky, signifying ' the dark 
and bloody ground,' is supposed to commemorate 
the conflicts between the various warlike tribes. One 
of the earliest pioneers was Daniel Boone (q.v.). This 
whole territory was included in the original grant to 
the colony of Virginia, and in 1776 received the 
name of Kentucky county. In 1790 it was made a 
separate territory of the United States, and in 1792 
was admitted as a state. Kentucky did not secede 
during the civil war, and several campaigns were 
waged within its borders. 



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